Kintai Bridge with my Mom

When my Mom was here, we mostly did every day stuff and we showed her small town, rural Japan, with a trip to the local mall. We were going to do more, but she got really sick (they thought it was the flu) and she said we would do more when she and my Dad come (HOORAY!) in June.

Our big "real", what you think of when you think of Japan, trip was to the Kintai Bridge.  I wanted to make sure to get these on the blog! 

This is one of the boats that they use for the cormorant fishing July - September.

There are a freakish amount of stray cats around this area.

Everybody wanted a picture with Grandma!

First Audrey!  :)  Do you see all of the bridge's arches behind them?

Then it was Olivia's turn!

Then finally Claire! We got all of the girls out of school early to go on our field trip!

Audrey loves having her picture taken. She should really be a model! :)

The best place for the bridge shot.

Me and Mom and my extra appendage. ☺

The Iwakuni Castle. We didn't make it up there. When Dad comes!

There are sooooooooooo many cherry blossoms there and they were just starting to bud. It was so beautiful when they were all out! I'll get pictures of those up later!

Then we walked around behind the bridge, which is even more Japanese'y than the bridge.

That's Claire in her little yochien uniform top right.

This is what you think of when you think of Japan!

And of course toriis.

And white snakes? BLECH! I did NOT go in here and never will!

This is a temple. We saw a man come up and pay his respects or pray or whatever it was that he did. You clap three times and bow or something. (I should really know more, but I don't...sorry!)

These are memorials or prayers of some sort, outside of the temple.

And more prayers. I pray that Mom and Dad come back again and again!!!! I miss them!!!!!!

Their trip is June 22nd - July 20th. We're going to take an ITT trip to Osaka and go to the Kaiyukan aquarium and then stay in the Ark Hotel which is in the "bustling" shopping and entertainment district of Osaka. The next day we go to Kobe and then back home. I'm relieved that we have a planned "real" Japan trip for them! I don't want to just show them the base and the Kintai bridge (no matter how lovely it may be!).

Thank you so much for coming Mom! It was so wonderful to see you and spend time with you, but it helped the girls adjust by having you here. Having them get excited about their area to show it off was a huge turning point for us. I love you and miss you!!!!!!!!!!